Free
by SheWhoDefinitelyMustNotBeNamed
Summary: This is a sequel to my 'Broken Glass' fanfic. It's about Ralph finding out about Potsie committing suicide and whether he forgave him or not. If you haven't read 'Broken Glass' yet, then maybe you should because this story probably won't make sense.


**This story is a sequel to my 'Broken Glass' fanfic. It was suggested to me, by another fanfic author known as Terri Spencer, who wanted to know whether Ralph forgave Potsie or not. Well, Terri, you and everyone else who reads this story, are about to find out. I hope you all enjoy the story.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Adela in this story.**

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******"Forgiving is rediscovering the shining path of peace that at first you thought others took away when they betrayed you." ~Dodinsky**

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Twenty three year old Ralph Malph stood in front of the grave of his friend, Warren 'Potsie' Webber, holding a baby wrapped in a blanket. It had been five years since Potsie held everyone hostage and then killed himself. He wasn't the only who died that day. He had murdered Professor Thomas and accidently killed his girlfriend, Jennifer. Her dying is what caused Potsie to kill himself. A few days earlier, he had murdered his alcoholic and abusive father.

Ralph was among those who were shot, but he was lucky. He survived along with Richie, Loribeth and Fonzie. Like the other survivors, Ralph didn't feel so lucky. He was in the hospital, getting his armed checked out, when Richie had delivered the news of Potsie killing himself.

***Flashback***

_ Ralph was sitting up in a hospital bed. His arm was in a sling because the doctors had just finished removing a bullet from it. Luckily for him, the injury wasn't life threatening. However, the same couldn't be said for Professor Thomas and Jennifer. They had died instantly, just like Potsie's father, Andrew Webber. AS he sat there on that hospital bed, Richie entered the room._

_"You doing okay?" asked Richie as he stood at the foot of the bed._

_"Yeah I'm okay. The surgery only took an hour. No real nerve damage was caused. How's Loribeth?"_

_"She's a little shaken up, but she's going to be fine. She's with her parents now." Richie said._

_"And what about Fonzie, did he make it out alive?"_

_"Yeah he made it."_

_"The police were able to arrest Potsie without a fight, right?" asked Ralph._

_"Ralph, by the time the police had got to the room, Potsie was already dead. He shot himself in the head. Fonzie said that he was too distraught over Jennifer's death." Richie said._

_In all the years that Richie had known him, Ralph did something that he couldn't believe. He broke down in tears and sobbed. This was the first time Richie had witnessed his friend break down in tears. He was so shocked that he was at a loss for words._

_"Coward! That's all he is! He just had to take the easy way out! He can't even apologize for what he did now." Ralph angrily whispered through tears._

***End of Flashback***

"Hey Potsie, it's me, Ralph. This is actually the first time I've been here alone. There's so much I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. Not with Richie and everyone else around. I've had a lot of chances to come here alone, but it took me five years to work up the courage." Ralph said as he spoke to the tombstone.

He looked toward the sky as if it held the message he wanted to give to Potsie. After a few moments of silence, Ralph turned his attention back to the tombstone. His eyes were clouded with tears.

"I don't think you're a coward and I'm sorry for calling you one. I forgive you for all the pain you caused that day, but I can never forget it. It's always going to be a memory I want to get rid of, but I can't. I will also never forget how great of a friend you were. I know always picked on you for not being the brightest crayon in the box, but I still loved you. You were like a brother to me. No matter how many times people explain it to me, I'll never understand why. How can a lovable guy like you, commit a horrible tragedy. All this time, we all thought you were fine, but that was a lie. You were silently screaming for help, but no one heard you. Maybe if we had heard you, then things would be different."

The baby then began to cry and Ralph looked at it lovingly. There were still tears in his eyes, but he was smiling.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. This is my daughter. She's three weeks old. Isn't she adorable?" Ralph said as he removed the blanket and baby cap, revealing curly red locks of hair. Underneath the blanket, the baby was wearing a royal blue ruffled dress with matching bloomers. As he talked, the crying stopped.

"My wife and I named her Adela Piper Malph. Did you notice that she looks just like me? She even has my blue eyes. She' brought a lot of joy into my life. I love her more than anything in the world. I'd walk through hell and back for her, if I had too. I tell her about you and Jennifer all the time. Just the good stuff, though. I don't want to tell her about the scary stuff. Children shouldn't being hearing about all the horrible stuff that goes on in this world. They deserve to be happy throughout their childhood. That's how I want Adela's childhood to be. I don't want to be like your father. Adela will never be hit or yelled at for every mistake she makes. However she turns out to be, I'll always love her." Ralph said as he placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead.

He then placed a white rose on the grave and said, "Until we meet again my friend."

As he turned to leave, he could have sworn he saw a dark haired and blue eyed young man, leaning against a tree and smiling. But the man had vanished the moment Ralph saw him. Ralph chalked it up to being a hallucination and kept walking with baby Adela.

Ralph did in fact see someone and that someone was Potsie. Unknown to Ralph, Potsie's spirit had been following him. Before he could truly be free, Potsie needed to hear Ralph say that he forgave him. Today turned out to be that day.

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**End of story. Please tell me what you all thought about it. Thank you all for reading it.**


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